Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to animal feeders and, more specifically, to time controlled animal feeder for storing and automatically dispensing a desired quantity of food.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
A preliminary patentability search conducted in Class 119, subclasses 51.11, 56.1 and 57.5, produced the following patents which appear to be relevant to the present invention:
Artentoft, U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,857 (issued May 8, 1990), shows a ganged plurality of feeders in which each feeder has disk (22) having a plurality of wedge-shaped notches that move feed from an opening in a top plate (18) around to an opening in a bottom plate (26) to a dispenser below.
Walker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,409 (issued Dec. 27, 1983), shows a motor-driven turntable or carousel having a plurality of compartments therein that are loaded from a hopper. A timer turns the motor on and a switch causes the device to turn off after a feeding sequence has completed.
Kukurba, U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,220 (issued Jul. 21, 1981), shows a plurality of wipers that dispense food. A motor turns the wipers, and a timer sequences the motor on and off.
Olsen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,327 (issued Jan. 15, 1980), shows a rotating wiper that dispenses food from a top opening (52) to a bottom opening (56). A timer actuates the motor that drives the feeder.
Grossman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,373 (issued Oct. 2, 1973) discloses a pair of rotating discs that cooperate to dispense food. A timer and motor operate the apparatus.
Appleton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,029 (issued Aug. 21, 1962), discloses a rotating carousel having a number of compartments that dispense food from an upper opening to a lower opening. A motor and timer operate the unit.
Paschall, U.S. Pat. No. 2,969,769 (issued Jan. 3, 1961), discloses a manual feeder that dispenses a fixed amount of food at each cycle.
Dixon, U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,243 (issued Mar. 14, 1950), shows a rotating member having a plurality of compartments that dispense the food. An electric motor drives the rotating member.
Gamblin, U.S. Pat. No. 822,442 (issued Jun. 5, 1906) shows rotating wipers that move food from an upper opening to a lower opening.
Nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests the present invention. More specifically, nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests an apparatus for storing and automatically dispensing a desired quantity of animal feed onto a feed dish, including a hopper for storing a quantity of animal feed; a receptacle or receiving animal feed from the hopper; an impeller positioned adjacent the face surface of the receptacle; a motor for rotating the impeller when activated to cause the impeller to sweep animal feed from the face surface of the receptacle; a switch for activating and deactivating the motor; timer means for causing the switch to activate the motor after a set period of time has elapsed; and control means for causing the switch to deactivate the motor after the impeller has rotated a pre-set amount.
The present invention provides an apparatus for storing and automatically dispensing a desired quantity of animal feed onto a feed dish.
The apparatus of the present invention includes, in general, a hopper for storing a quantity of animal feed; a receptacle for receiving animal feed from the hopper; an impeller positioned adjacent the face surface of the receptacle; a motor for rotating the impeller when activated to cause the impeller to sweep animal feed from the face surface of the receptacle; a switch for activating and deactivating the motor; timer means for causing the switch to activate the motor after a set period of time has elapsed; and control means for causing the switch to deactivate the motor after the impeller has rotated a pre-set amount.